Saturday, April 7, 2012

Waiting for Go: DOH!

Nothing to be done....So there you are again.

The Internet is well aware of my complete, total, utter disdain for cable locks employed for securing bicycles. I don't know. Maybe basic lock-bicycle topology is too complex for your average human to grasp. Since it requires a functional combination of frame topology, successful shopping for a good u-lock, and manual dexterity to lock up bikes effectively, I guess I understand why there are so many inadequate, or downright pointless (as in this case), bicycle locking practices to see out there. Understanding does not equal acceptance, though, and this cable, easily sliced with a cheap tool itself, is not even holding the bicycle to the rack. I have to issue a yellow card for this one.

However, the yellow card alone won't cut it in this case. Some additional rules of thumb would appear to be necessary here:

After you lock up your bike, if someone can still walk away with it, you're doing it wrong

6 comments:

A variation on the yellow card is a lock, such as this, that could simply be lifted off without even bothering to go back for the snips. At least my "just a moment" tiny cable is good for the brief moment.

I see pickups with camper shells casing bike racks, usually with two guys, one who hops out, the other keeping the engine running. The back has all kind of junk, not just bicycles, so as not to appear as a pickup with two guys and a load of stolen bikes.

I definitely feel the red card approach. But I also have a strong Libertarian bent that leads me to think that if someone chooses to leave their bike totally unlocked, that's up to them, and they personally bear the responsibility for their choice. The gap is knowledge though--I think a lot of people just don't know, and so are not making a choice in the full light of understanding, but out of lack of it. So a card could do some good, then.

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Let's Just Ride

I commute by bicycle in Phoenix, Arizona, a metropolis suited to riding bicycles of all types, with weather, mountains, roads, canals, and paths to keep me forever spinning. My favorite bike tools are an open mind, creative engagement, curiosity, compassion, common ground, and the search for knowledge.

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